Assessment of Cropland Ecological Risk by Combining Environmental Disturbance and Ecosystem Vulnerability
Agroecosystems suffer from various ecological risks due to the intensive production of crops. Many studies have been conducted on cropland ecological risk caused by chemical pollutants. However, the literature on the comprehensive assessment of cropland ecological risk remains limited. This study initiated an assessment method for cropland ecological risk by combining environmental disturbance and ecosystem vulnerability. Environmental disturbance was expressed through the landscape disturbance index, while ecosystem vulnerability was characterized by the dynamic and coupling coordination degrees of ecosystem services. This method is conducive to understanding the complex exposure–response relationship between cropland and environmental stresses. Cropland ecological risk was evaluated by conducting a case study on the loess dryland region in Shaanxi. The hot spots and driving factors of risk were explored using spatial autocorrelation and quantile regression methods, respectively. Results show that overall cropland ecological risk is at medium low level. Risk hot spots are concentrated in the north of the loess dryland. Ecosystem vulnerability exerts greater effect on the distribution of hot spots than environmental disturbance. Road density (RD), river density, and soil organic matter exhibit the most important effects on cropland ecological risk. Moreover, the effect of each driving factor on cropland ecological risk varies with risk level. RD, slope, precipitation, elevation, fertilizer application rate, gross domestic product, and distance to town center have greater effects on risk in regions with high cropland ecological risk than in regions with low cropland ecological risk. Our results illustrate that the comprehensive method is reliable and applicable to cropland ecological risk. The findings of this study must be considered in formulating targeted polices for controlling cropland ecological risk in loess drylands to realize sustainable crop production
Year of publication: |
[2023]
|
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Authors: | Qiu, Menglong ; Fu, Mengyu ; Zhang, Zhiwei ; Fu, Shaowu ; Yuan, Chengcheng |
Publisher: |
[S.l.] : SSRN |
Saved in:
freely available
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